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Bearden, Arkansas

16 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1903 and the latest in 1989. It stands in Union Township. It lies in ZIP code area 71720. The Survey maps it on the Bearden quadrangle. 776 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 240 feet above sea level.

Bearden within Ouachita County

On record in Bearden

Buildings and businesses the archive holds for this place. Each opens its own page, with the source record it came from.

On the National Register 2 records

Population over time

3 figures

Bearden fell from 1,125 to 776 between 2000 and 2020. These are the recorded population figures Wikidata holds for this place, reached through the Geographic Names Information System number this page is keyed on rather than by name, so they belong to this place and not to another of the same name. Most are census counts, but not all are: an early figure may be a founding or settlement estimate, and an estimate published within five years of a census is left out. The change column is computed, and is left blank where more than 20 years separate a figure from the one before it, because a gap that long is not a change between two counts.

YearPeople Change
20001,125
2010966-159 (-14%)
2020776-190 (-20%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

9 surveys from 16 printed sheets

Matched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.

Fires near this place

174 since 1997

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 174 fires within 5 miles of Bearden between 1997 and 2020, burning about 1,603 acres in total. 16 started naturally. 52 were recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Reported cause Fires
Arson/incendiarism52
Missing data/not specified/undetermined38
Debris and open burning38
Equipment and vehicle use19
Natural16
Railroad operations and maintenance4
Misuse of fire by a minor3
Recreation and ceremony2
Smoking2

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
9 September 1999Arson/incendiarism5.0 acresArkansas Forestry Commissionnot named
8 September 2011Arson/incendiarism6.0 acresArkansas Forestry Commissionnot named
7 September 2005Debris and open burning14 acresArkansas Forestry Commissionnot named
6 September 2007Recreation and ceremony1.0 acresArkansas Forestry Commissionnot named
6 September 2005Equipment and vehicle use20 acresArkansas Forestry Commissionnot named
6 September 2005Equipment and vehicle use2.0 acresArkansas Forestry Commissionnot named
4 September 2005Debris and open burning3.0 acresArkansas Forestry Commissionnot named
4 September 2005Debris and open burning40 acresArkansas Forestry Commissionnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Ouachita County

Mines and quarries near this place

10 of 32 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 32 workings within 5 miles of Bearden: 24 past producers, 5 unknowns, 3 producers. 3 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Where SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Bearden-Holly Springs MineSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Fairchild PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Millville Pit & PlantSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Pine Bluff Sand & Gravel Co PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
UnkSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
UnkSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
UnkSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
UnkSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
UnkSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
UnkSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer

Every working recorded in Ouachita County

Storms near this place

35 since 1996

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Bearden in 35 storm reports between 1996 and 2023: 18 thunderstorm wind, 13 hail, 2 tornado, 2 flash flood. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
October 2009Thunderstorm WindBearden$200,000Numerous trees and power lines were blown down. Some of the trees fell on houses.
July 2010Thunderstorm WindBearden$25,000A high-voltage power line was blown down. Two homes were evacuated and a two-block area was closed as a precaution.
June 2010Thunderstorm WindBearden$15,000Eight power poles were blown down and there was some tree damage off U.S. Highway 79 southwest of Bearden.
April 2017Thunderstorm WindBearden$5,000Windows were blown out of a house by the winds.
June 2009Thunderstorm WindBearden$2,000A large tree was down across Arkansas Highway 203.
May 2010Flash FloodBearden$100Street flooding was reported in Bearden.
June 2023Thunderstorm WindBearden-Numerous trees fell across northern and northeastern Ouachita County.
May 2021HailBearden-Ping pong ball size hail was noted in Bearden on social media.
June 2016Flash FloodBearden-Flash flooding was reported near the Bank of Bearden and the City Hall Area.
April 2008Thunderstorm WindBearden-Trees were blown down northeast of Bearden.
July 2005Thunderstorm WindBearden-Thunderstorm winds downed power lines at Bearden.
July 2005Thunderstorm WindBearden-A few trees downed.
May 2004Tornado (F0)Bearden-A weak tornado was spawned in northern Ouachita County about 3.8 miles west-southwest of Bearden. The tornado peeled some tin from the roof of a garage, damaged a mobile home, and downed some trees. A couple of the fallen trees knocked over power poles. The tornado dissipated roughly 1.8 miles west-southwest of Bearden.
December 2002Tornado (F0)Bearden-A weak tornado (F0) touched down 2.7 miles west-southwest of Bearden and tracked to the northeast for 5.1 miles before lifting. The only damage noted along the path of the tornado were some trees that were snapped off and minor damage to the tin roof of a barn.
May 2001Thunderstorm WindBearden-Severe thunderstorm winds downed trees and damaged several large signs in Bearden.
May 2010HailBearden-no account filed
June 2007HailBearden-no account filed
May 2006HailBearden-no account filed
March 2004Thunderstorm WindBearden-no account filed
March 2004Thunderstorm WindBearden-no account filed
May 2002HailBearden-no account filed
March 2001HailBearden-no account filed
May 2001HailBearden-no account filed
March 2000Thunderstorm WindBearden-no account filed
July 2000Thunderstorm WindBearden-no account filed
September 2000HailBearden-no account filed
September 2000Thunderstorm WindBearden-no account filed
August 1999Thunderstorm WindBearden-no account filed
October 1998Thunderstorm WindBearden-no account filed
September 1996Thunderstorm WindBearden-no account filed
April 1996HailBearden-no account filed
April 1996HailBearden-no account filed
March 1996HailBearden-no account filed
March 1996HailBearden-no account filed
February 1996HailBearden-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Ouachita County

Nearest settlements

The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.

Map PlaceDistance Sheets
Bests (historical)0.8 miles16
Millville2.3 miles16
Salem3.2 miles16
Eagle Mills5.5 miles16
Shumaker6.9 miles16
Onalaska (historical)7.6 miles16
Lilley (historical)7.7 miles16
Vanduzer9.7 miles15

Elsewhere

Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.

Wikipedia article on BeardenAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q79651The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0).

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 46250. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.

Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.